


The 5 Times Skye Helped Ward With His Nightmares and the 1 Time She Didn't

by goldenkc



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 13:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9274901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenkc/pseuds/goldenkc
Summary: when he wakes up with nightmares, she becomes the first person he turns to, but she won't always be there





	1. first.

Skye knew Ward was troubled. She’d heard him mumbling sometimes in his sleep in his pod on the BUS. Sometimes, she’d be in the kitchen, working on her computer in the middle of the night for an upcoming mission when Ward would walk in looking like he’d seen a ghost.

She’d ask if he was alright and he’d always say he was. But she’d never push.

One night in the Playground, when everyone on their team was asleep in their rooms, Skye woke up to the sound of scream. It was a deep and terrified sound, and naturally, she sprang up to investigate.

When she opened her door, she heard it again. It was coming from Ward’s room. Jemma walked out of her room, rubbing her eye as she looked around the hallway.

“You heard it, too?” Skye asked.

“How could I not?” Jemma replied, her accent thick with sleep.

Skye looked over at Ward’s room, deciding what she’d do. “You go back to bed,” she told her friend. “I'll check on him.”

“You’re sure?”

She nodded, walking away. “Yeah, I’ve got it.” 

Skye stopped in front of his door, waiting until she heard Jemma’s door close before continuing. She peeked her head into Ward’s dimly-lit room and saw him facing away from the door, his head hung low and his hands on his knees. 

“Hey,” she greeted softly. Ward didn’t bother looking over his shoulder. “You okay?”

“I'm fine,” that was an instinctive response--he was definitely not fine.

She slipped around to the other side of the door, leaning back to close it. “No,” she shook her head. “Don't do that.”

“What?” his eyes snapped up to hers; but she would never back down.

“Tell me you're okay when you're not. You don't have to pretend with me, Ward.”

He scoffed, shaking his head and sitting more comfortably in his bed. “It was just a nightmare, Skye. You can go back to your room,” he flung his wrist away, motioning for her to leave the way she came.

She walked closer, slowly. “Do you wanna talk about it? Talking always helped me,” she offered.

Ward stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out her angle. “Why would you care?”

“Because you’re not just my S.O., Ward, I consider you a friend. And I look after my friends.”

He was almost upset with her naivety, but also intrigued. “I’m not your friend, Skye. I am your superior. Don’t get the two mixed up,” he spat bitterly.

“Nice try,” she chuckled. She grabbed the wooden chair by his bedside and sat on it backwards, resting her forearms on the back of it. “Think what you want, but we’re friends,” she smirked at him, pointing between the two of them. “So much so, that you’re going to tell me what you dreamt about—what made _the Grant Ward_ shout in his sleep.”

“You just do not give up, do you?” he asked rhetorically, narrowing his eyes at the little brunette. Skye clicked her tongue, tilting her head to the side. “Fine.”

Skye smiled triumphantly, leaning forward ever-so-slightly, happy she’d gotten him to crack.

“It was a memory; what I dreamt about. Something from a long time ago. I was just a kid who Garrett had gotten out of juvie. He sent me into the woods in Wyoming and left me there for six months to teach me _self-reliance_ ,” he chuckled out the last word. “He left me with this dog, Buddy.”

Skye was listening intently as Ward smiled sadly at the memory.

“I dreamt about those six months, but only the worst parts. My mind is all kinds of messed up, Skye. I can’t even remember the last time I’d had a nice dream.”

She listened to his story, and about other dreams he’d had. She asked questions ever now and then. Ward was glad for someone, finally, to talk to. Someone who wouldn’t judge him, because he knew Skye never would.

“So what happened to him? Buddy?” she asked curiously, her jaw propped up in her hands.

Ward lowered his head, playing with the loose threads on the comforter. “Garrett, he, uh, he taught me not to have attachments… told me they were a weakness.”

Skye understood what he meant by that. “He made you kill him.” Ward nodded his head solemnly. “I’m sorry.”

Ward looked up at her. No one had ever said that to him without pity laced in their voices. No one had ever said that to him with such sincerity. In that moment, Skye felt like his friend. And it had been a long time since he’d felt that kind of bond.


	2. second.

Skye knew how dark Ward’s mind grew at night, and she refused to leave him on his own to face those terrors himself. The two had grown a lot closer since that first nightmare she’d been there for a few weeks ago. She didn’t know how he’d managed not to drive himself mad before he had her.

She was sleeping on the couch in his room when Ward woke her up with his incoherent mumbling. It was soft at first, and Skye thought it would pass. She sat up, stretching her limbs on the hard sofa. She squinted in the low light, noticing him tossing and turning in his bed.

“Please,” she heard him mutter. “Please don’t make me hurt her.”

She stood when Ward got a little louder, wanting to avoid waking and worrying the others. She shuffled over to his bed and shook his arm.

“Ward, wake up. It’s just a dream.”

His eyes snapped open as he quickly sat up; searching the room before he saw her standing a few feet back. She saw confusion and fear in his eyes, but she also saw pain.

Skye plopped down beside him, resting her hand on the blanket above his leg. “Come on, tell me about it.”

He ran his hands through his tousled hair and wiped away the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Ward cleared his throat, wanting to forget about it, but he knew that she’d make him feel better--no matter how bad the dreams were.

“It was about you,” he whispered into the dark with closed eyes, trapping the rest of the world out. 

“Me?” she asked, voice laced with disbelief.

He nodded, looking at her silhouette. “It was back when HYDRA still had me, and they wanted to kill you. Only, it was me who pulled the trigger instead of Ian Quinn.” 

He paused, not wanting to continue. Skye placed her hand on his, rubbing her thumb on the back of his hand.

Ward drew in a deep breath. “We couldn’t save you, and you died,” he choked out the last word. She'd never seen him so vulnerable.

Skye reached forward and cupped his cheek. “I'm right here.”

She moved into his lap, straddling his legs and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She buried her face in his neck and he could feel her warm breath as she spoke.

“And I'm not going anywhere,” she whispered.

He gave in, holding onto her just as tightly, not wanting to ever let go. Not even when he finally fell back asleep, Skye at his side.


	3. third.

The third time Skye had been around when he'd had a nightmare was when she was sleeping in bed beside him. Ward had wanted to stay awake; a protectiveness had come over him as he watched her sleep peacefully after a long night and an even longer mission.

Though sleep eventually took over and with sleep often came the bad dreams. He woke up with a yelp, startling Skye awake as his arm seemed to be out of his control and a hard fist connected with her jaw.

Ward had felt terrible about it, of course. But Skye wouldn't have it, and she coaxed his nightmare out of him, learning about what had made him physically violent in his slumber.

She'd told him it didn't hurt, and it didn't--not at first. But it sure did the next morning.

Ward would hate himself for days as that large purple bruise that took up half her left cheek slowly healed, a taunting reminder of how much damage he did and how much more he could do.

He wouldn't let her sleep in his room after that. She'd go in his room until just before lights-out when he'd kick her out so he could sleep, giving an excuse of having to get up early for sparring with May. 

Skye knew better, but she didn't say anything. She let him wallow in self-pity until she'd hoped he'd get his head out of his ass.

A week after the incident, they were sitting on his bed just after midnight. Skye was typing away on her laptop and Ward was reading a book. When he finished the chapter, he set the paperback in the bedside drawer and sat up beside her.

"Don't tell me to leave," she mumbled, eyes focused on the screen as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

"I hurt you," he said staring at his hands, but glancing at her cheek with the light yellow colour across it. 

Skye turned to him, closing the computer. "It wasn’t your fault.” He went to speak before she stopped him. “It doesn't hurt, Ward," she said with a reassuring smile, poking it a few times for good measure.

"I could have done worse," he sadly admitted. 

"But you didn't," Skye said, raising Ward's chin so he'd meet her eyes. "I'm okay. Really. I'm staying tonight and every other night," she declared.

When Ward was about to argue, she put her hand up and continued speaking.

"We both know you sleep better when I'm here. So really, I'm doing the whole compound a kindness by sparing them of your screaming. Now are you going to move over so we can sleep?"

The question was rhetorical. He knew he had no choice but to move, or he'd be moved. Ward wanted her there. He just didn't want to hurt her. And he promised himself he never would again.


	4. fourth.

Something about sleeping in bed with Skye had calmed him. Ward hadn't had nightmares in a long time. Until one day, when he woke up screaming as images of a twisted past clouded his mind. Skye sprang up, hitting the light switch and looking around the room for any danger.

Her eyes landed on Ward, holding himself in fetal position, scared of something he’d dreamt. Skye had caught on that physical contact would soothe his panic after a nightmare.

First, she rested a hand on his shoulder and felt him shudder under her touch. Then when she began stroking his arm, Ward grabbed onto her and held on tight. Skye moved her whole body forward, wrapping her thin arms around his wide frame and sliding her legs to beside his until every part of them touched.

“What was it this time?” she asked softly.

“The well,” he stammered out. “It was me--I was in there. And I--I couldn’t get out.”

“Shh,” she wiped under his eyes, ridding him of fallen tears. “It wasn’t real, Grant. You’re not there. You’re okay.”

Skye played big spoon for a while until she felt his heart rate steady once again. She kissed his cheek and whispered a goodnight.

When she went to roll back over to her side, Ward’s hand held tighter to hers as he quietly begged her not to leave him just yet.

“I’m not leaving you,” she said. She kissed his face again and rested her head on the pillow behind him. “I’ll never leave you.”


	5. fifth.

The fifth time he needed her, Ward didn't know what had brought it on--the feeling of deep panic, dread and fear. Maybe that was a lie, he had known what it was, but he didn't expect it to affect him like it did--he'd had these nightmares before. 

"Skye!" his first instinct had become to always look for her, shout for her. 

Remembering that his girlfriend had gone out early that morning, he'd have to calm himself. He sat up on their bed, pulling his legs in close to his body. He smacked his forehead down on his knees. 

"You're okay, you're okay," he muttered, attempting to ground himself. He took deep breaths, hitting his head on his knees over and over. 

He'd had his eyes squeezed shut when he realized his cheeks had grown warm and wet from the escaping tears. Ward ran his palms over his face furiously, wiping the wetness. He slid his hands up to his head, pulling at the roots of his hair. 

He grew frustrated with his inability to keep his emotions in. He'd done so well lately, not having those dreams in a while.

"Ward, I'm back!" Skye sang, walking in their shared bedroom. She was dropping her keys on the little table at the door as she tried detangling the laptop bag strap from her shoulder, not seeing Ward behind her yet. 

Ward wiped at his face again, but ultimately, he knew she'd see the redness under his eyes. Skye turned around and stopped mid-greeting when she saw her boyfriend's distressed state. 

She walked up to him, climbing into the bed and crawling behind Ward to wrap her arms around his shoulders. His hands clung to her forearms as he kept his eyes closed, breath hitching in his throat. The girl kissed his temple, holding him tightly. 

"You're okay, you're okay," she mumbled. His breathing and heart rate slowly calmed, knowing the mantra always worked better when she'd say it. "You're not there, Grant. You're here, with me," she said softly. 

Her legs were at his sides and her one hand soothed his disheveled hair as the other stayed securely across his shoulders. She kept repeating to him that he was okay, and in the Playground--not in the well, not with Garrett, not stuck under HYDRA's manipulation--but that he was safe. 

"Shh, baby, it was just a nightmare." Her voice brought him back. Skye was what grounded him. She was his anchor. And when Ward finally snapped out of his fearful panic, he asked himself what he'd done to deserve someone like her.


	6. sixth.

The next time he had a really bad nightmare was not long after she was gone. Ward woke up in a panic, shouting for Skye before remembering that she wouldn’t come running like she used to, and that she never would again.

Someone did run into his room though; not who he was expecting, but still someone. In came Leo Fitz, looking for the commotion and searching for ways to aid. He’d heard the screams from three rooms over. “What’s happened?”

“Nothing, Fitz. I’m fine, go back to bed,” he grumbled, though obviously still shaken.

The Scottish man walked over to the sink, grabbing a glass and bringing it over to Ward. “Here,” he said when Ward first didn’t take it.

“I said I’m fine,” Ward snapped, laying down and facing away from his friend.

“No,” Fitz said sternly.

“Excuse me?” Ward faced him again. “Who do you--”

“She told me to look out for you,” he blurted out, halting Ward’s words immediately. “And I’ll be damned if I can’t keep _one_ promise to her. Now shut your bloody mouth and let me help you.” Fitz huffed, holding the glass out with a straight arm, narrowed eyes, and pursed lips.

Ward slowly reached out for the glass, trying and failing to ignore the pang of guilt in his chest at the mention of _her_.

Fitz grabbed the little wooden chair by the bedside table and scrapped it across the floor before parking it beside the bed. When Ward had finished his water, he went to speak before being cut off again.

“You’re not fine, don’t even try it.”

Ward dryly chuckled, cursing himself for being so transparent. He wanted to say that he could calm himself down, that he’d get through it, and that Fitz could leave. But the truth was he didn’t want to be alone. As much as he’d tried to portray the lone wolf façade, he hated being alone.

“You know, it’s not your fault,” Fitz whispered in the dim light. “She wouldn’t want you to be blaming yourself.”

Ward nodded, meeting the blonde’s gaze. “I know. Thank you.”

Fitz read the room, realizing that conversation was over. “Did I tell you about the new robot Jemma and I are building?”

“No, you didn’t,” Ward said, a small smile forming on his lips. 

Fitz’ face light up as he began to explain things that had gone way over Ward’s head, but Ward let him continue anyway.

He’d tried to get Fitz to simplify, asking, “How about you try talking to me like I’m five?”

Fitz’ brows furrowed as he said, “Well, that’s ridiculous. Why would I be talking to a five year old about this?”

Ward chuckled, shaking his head. He offered a half-assed apology and told Fitz to continue.

Whenever Ward would have nightmares after that, Fitz would distract him with telling him how his day had gone, or teaching him about the new tech they’d gotten in, or telling him something about how cute Jemma looks when she’s concentrating (Ward had always been rooting for those two).

The day eventually came when Ward had his last nightmare. His fears were gone and his traumas no longer had such a hold on him. He slept easily through the night, and he was sure Fitz was glad for it, too. Ward only wished Skye was there to see him all better.


End file.
